Residents received artificially low bills six months ago and were recently whacked with bills "greatly exceeding the usual amount," on the current billing cycle to make up for the underbilling, said Town Councilor Scott Pitta, who sponsored an emergency measure to allow payment plans for the affected customers.

The employee, who only worked for the town for a few months, has been fired, Dutton said.

The problem affected as many as 30 percent of residents, he said.

"What people are getting now is nothing more than a bill for the water they’ve actually used," Dutton said.

No one was actually overbilled — with one exception, Dutton said. Some people were knocked into a higher rate tier by the artificially high bills.

For those people, the Water Department is granting abatements for the amount they were overbilled, Dutton said.

Dutton said the Water Department has received 25 to 30 calls a day over the past week from residents who received the high bills.

The abatements have ranged from $50 to $250 — but only residents billed at a higher rate are eligible for the adjustments, he said.

Councilor Bill Rivers said the town shouldn’t be waiting for residents to call and complain before making the adjustments.

"It makes no sense to me that we made the mistake and we’re putting the onus on the consumer to rectify the problem," Rivers said.

Dutton agreed. He said once the "deluge" of calls has passed, the Water Department will be checking all bills to ensure they are correct and will make any appropriate adjustments.

Councilors said they are disappointed the artificially high bills went out without a note of explanation to the water customers.

But Dutton said he doesn’t believe the Water Department was aware of the scope of the problem until the calls began coming in.

The Water Department does not rely on estimates. Each semi-annual bill is based on an actual in-person reading at the customer’s home, Dutton said.

He’d like to see that system changed to an automated one that records meter readings electronically. That would eliminate future problems like the current one and be more efficient overall, Dutton said.

Page 2 of 2 - Dutton said there is no evidence the employee lowered bills in order to benefit particular people.

"We think the employee was fabricating meter readings to avoid having to do the work," Dutton said.

Any residents with questions about their bills should call the Water Department at (508) 697-0910, Dutton said.